A fresh batch of 68 pilgrims left the Jammu base camp on Sunday for the Amarnath cave shrine in South Kashmir under tight security cover, an official spokesman said.

Pics: In Jammu, a tangled tale is written in blood

The pilgrims, including 12 women, 18 sadhus and three children, left the base camp at 0515 hrs, the spokesman told UNI.

This was the season's smallest batch of pilgrims, which left in two buses for the Amarnath cave shrine, the spokesman said.

Hundreds of people had cancelled their plans for pilgrimage following massive protests and subsequent curfew restrictions in the winter capital city of the state.

The two-month-long Amarnath pilgrimage started from Jammu on June 17.